Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party
2, called Dance Dance Revolution Full
Full Party in Japan, was announced by Konami on May 15, 2008 as part of
the 10th anniversary of Dance Dance Revolution
celebration. Hottest Party 2 features the same gameplay as
the first Hottest Party and introduces new gameplay modes,
gimmicks, characters and graphical enhancements. The game also
features an all new soundtrack featuring licensed music from the
past four decades as well as new Konami Originals.[2]
Hottest Party 2 was released on September 16, 2008 in North
America. A teaser site for the Japanese release was launched on
December 9, 2008 featuring new gameplay footage from the game.[3]

Development

Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 was announced on
May 15 2008 alongside Dance Dance Revolution
Universe 3 and Dance Dance Revolution X
by Konami on the DDR Online Community website as part of Game Day
2008. A sequel to the 2007 Dance Dance Revolution
Hottest Party, Hottest Party 2 features many improvements.
Konami promises an entirely new soundtrack featuring music from the
"last four decades", more innovative Wii Remote and Nunchuk support, four-player
multiplayer and brand new gameplay modes. Hottest Party 2 features
a difficulty range that allows both new players and seasoned
dancers to enjoy the game. Mii
support will be added to the game, allowing players to incorporate
their Mii avatars onto the dance floor. Courses, a mode featured in
the mainstream Dance Dance Revolution series, will be
introduced on the Wii for the first time. Dance gimmicks such as
Triple Stomp and Dance N' Defend Battle Mode will add new dynamics
to the standard gameplay. New dancing characters will be introduced
and the dancers will show off realistic dance moves that players
can watch and practice in special mode. New dancing stages with
greater detail will be added to the game, more than 50 total
environments for the characters to dance in. Konami also announced
a sample of the music to be included in Hottest Party 2, including
covers of "Black
or White" by Michael Jackson, D.A.N.C.E by Justice (band), "Umbrella" by Rihanna and "We Got the Beat" by The Go-Go's.[2]
A teaser trailer and a series of gameplay screenshots were released
by Konami alongside the announcement. [4]

On August 1, 2008 The Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party
2 teaser website was updated with a new trailer revealing
additional information about the upcoming game. The updated dancers
with new dance moves are featured, along with the detailed stages
featuring club style lighting, video walls and live crowds, new
gimmicks that shrink the size of the on-screen arrows to varying
degrees, the first appearance of Training Mode on the Wii, Dance N'
Defend Battle Mode in action and the 360 degree dancing character
viewer. During the video the song "Into Your Heart (Ruffage Mix)"
can be heard, a new Konami Original by sound producer Naoki Maeda.[5]

Gameplay

Gameplay remains relatively unchanged from the original game.
New modes on Hottest Party 2 include a new battle mode[2]
and the "Groove Arena", an updated version of Groove Circuit from
the previous version. New additional arrow gimmicks include arrows
that rebound when hit and must be hit three times in order for them
to fully disappear, arrows that only appear suddenly, missiles, and
an implementation of holds for the hand markers.[2][6]

Advertisements

Scoring

When played with the Wii Remote, a separate "hand combo"
attached to the lifebar increases if the player can keep the beat
of the song with the controller while in play. These hand combos
can add a bonus to the player's score when a hand marker is
eventually reached.[5][6]

Music

The songs in yellow are licensed covers, the songs in white are
Konami Originals, the songs in red are "boss songs", and the songs
in green are featured in existing games. The songs with padlocks
next to them are locked until certain conditions are met in the
game, and songs with a clapperboard next to them have music videos
featured.

Soundtrack
album

The original soundtrack for Furu Furu Party
will be bundled with the original soundtrack for Dance Dance Revolution X,
and will be released on January 29, 2009. It is part of the
pre-order bundles for the PlayStation 2 version of DDR X in Japan,
which will be released the same day.[13]

Reception

A pre-release screenshot of Hottest Party 2 displaying a
Mii as a dancing character.

During E3 2008 Konami showcased
Hottest Party 2 to the press. The reaction was favorable
with video game publications citing how easy the game is to pick up
and play. Chris Watters of GameSpot pointed out that players who have two
left feet will appreciate the training songs that teach players
useful fundamentals.[14]IGN's Lucas M. Thomas said that
Hottest Party 2 is "exactly what you'd expect" of the
Dance Dance Revolution franchise yet remains solid and
challenging with the addition of the Wii remote and Nunchuk. He
goes on to say that the new gimmicks in the Hottest Party
series have been met with mixed feelings but are a welcome addition
to the standard footwork and keep the gameplay fresh. He also
sarcastically remarks that Mii heads on the detailed dancing
character bodies "doesn't look disturbing at all."[15]

WorthPlaying.com's Jesse Littlefield gave the game a 6.6/10,
complimenting some of the additions to gameplay and Wii Remote
support. However, the stages and characters were dubbed "poorly
detailed" and the covered songs were declared to be "sub-standard",
although the Konami Originals were considered the "better half" of
the soundtrack. The lack of online play was also criticized.[6]